Lhasa Converter Station at an average elevation of 3,280 meters. [Photo/Chinanews]

Great efforts and huge investments have been made to protect the fragile environment along the line of the Qinghai-Tibet Direct Current Electricity Network Project providing electricity for Tibetans since it has been put into used last year.

"The project has generated electricity of 600 million kilowatt/hour this year in Tibet." Gao Yingyun, deputy manager of Tibet Electric Power Company Limited said that it meant saving 748,000 tons of coal and reducing 1.95 million tons of carbon emission.

"It is good for the environment as people rely on electricity instead of firewood." Xiang Jianhua said the project had effectively reduced the use of coal. With the development of the project, diesel engines will be used in emergent cases only.
He added that a total of 370 million yuan has been pumped into protecting the environment including the education of environmental workers, vegetation protection, solid waste disposal and arrangement of soil erosion. Besides, a supervision system was also set up to monitor each phase of the project.

Liu Guanghui, former deputy director of Lhasa Converter Station, pointed out that they have taken steps to prevent noise from spreading out and affecting surrounding villages by thickening the noise-proof walls in the past one year.
"The sewage produced by the operation of the station will be reused to water the plants in the station instead of being discharged directly." he added.

Although the project is completed, lines of makeshift houses which were once home to the construction workers can still be seen there.

"They become storehouses now, but will be pulled down in the future to restore the vegetation," Liu Gaunghui explained.

"From the beginning, we recycle, store and process household garbage and then entrust environment department to clear it," Gao recalled. Moreover, the grassland destroyed when building the project will be replanted afterwards.

Tseten Yangjen, a 26-year-old mother-to-be working in the station, does not worry about the radiation."It is a fact that there is indeed radiation, but we had invited experts to do a parameter test in advance to ensure the safety of the workers and villagers nearby." Liu Guanghui said "We have also talked with surrounding villagers over the radiation issue to ease their anxieties."